"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair" – Charles Dickens

Cannes Workshop: Planning By Planners Who Aren’t ‘Planners’

We’re hosting a bit of a planning workshop at Cannes Lions on Friday 24th June.

Now there can be nothing so unedifying and predictable as account planners talking about account planning. We’ve all been on the receiving end of presentations that are exercises in speculation or rhetoric. Or worse, advocate a ‘different way of working’ using work from other agencies, rather than one’s own.

At Wieden+Kennedy there's no formal planning process. We like it that way. It works better that way. So we're not interested in planners talking about planning. That's boring. What we're really interested in is how stuff gets made.

So rather than ask planners about planning, we’ve assembled a group of people who have to plan – rigorously, creatively, imaginatively – but who are from outside our small world of advertising.

There’s no agency or planning shtick or agenda. All we want to do is provide some food for thought. And have some fun along the way.

We’ve got Kat Clark, Head of Campaign Communications at Greenpeace talking about How To Plan Non-Violent Intervention; Gurleen M Puri, Independent Event Designer and Wedding Planner will talk about How To Plan An Indian Royal Wedding, and erotic filmmaker Jennifer Lyon Bell of Blue Artichoke Films will be sharing her insights into How To Plan For Real Chemistry.